206 



On Tilling Ground. 



Vol* 



On Tilling Oround.. 



" With timely care I'll sow my little field, 

 And plant my orchard with its master's hand, 

 Nor blush to spread the hay, the hook to wield, 

 Or range the sheaves along the sunny land." 



The labors of the field rank first in point of 

 utility. To these all classes of human be- 

 ings from the king on the throne to the peas- 

 ant in the cottage are indebted for the neces- 

 saries of life. They also lay the surest 

 foundation for national independence and 

 wealth. Nor is agricultural labor properly 

 considered less honorable than it is necessary 

 and useful. Adam in innocency was a gar- 

 dener, and his fair Eve assisted him in that 

 occupation. Vulcan the blacksmith, had di- 

 vine honors paid to his memory, for forging 

 toola of husbandry; as also Bacchus for his 

 skill in raising the vine and expressing its 

 juice : and Ceres a notable housewife of old, 

 for her skill in making bread. Cincinnatus 

 was taken from the plough to be general of 

 the Roman armies, and dictator over the 

 commonwealth, and as soon as his country 

 could dispense with his services, he content- 

 edly returned to his plough again. Diocle- 

 sian voluntarily resigned the government of 

 the Roman empire, to follow the occupation 

 of agriculture, and declared from experience, 

 that in point of real happiness, he had gained 

 much by the excliange. Gideon marched 

 from his threshing floor to deliver Israel, as a 

 general in chief. Eiisha was plougliing when 

 he received his sacred commission as a pro- 

 phet of the L ord. 



Our great and good Washington, and o«r 

 venerable Lincoln, were practical farmers; 

 the latter, if I have been rightly informed, 

 used before the revolution to drive his own 

 team, and labor with his own hands. 



The pursuit of agriculture, with diligence 

 and prudence seldom fails yielding, if not 

 wealth, a moderate independence. For the 

 farmer who is not in debt, and the produce of 

 his farm is sufficient with industry and fru- 

 gality to support his family, is really as inde- 

 pendent in his circumstances as though he 

 were worth a million. 



This calling is the least dependent of any, 

 and the least exposed to fatal accidents, af- 

 fords on the whole the greatest sum of con- 

 tentment. Gilbert Burns, of Scotland, him- 

 self a laboring farmer, remarks in a letter 

 written in the year 1800: "I have always 

 been of opinion, that if a man bred to the hab- 

 its of a farmer's life, who possesses a farm of 

 good soil on such terms as enables him to pay 

 all demands, is not happy, he ought to look 

 somewhere else than to his situation for the 

 cause of his uneasiness." This Mr. Burns, 

 a man of superior cast of understanding, was 

 a small farmer oa lease Imids ,•— an,d if such a 



situation aff"ord contentment and happiness to 

 one of the first rate sense, much more might 

 a country farm in our country free from in- 

 cumbrances, and belonging exclusively to 

 the occupier. A farmer m those circum- 

 stances, did he truly estimate his lot in life, 

 would see a hundred reasons for gratitude to 

 one of complaint. 



A practical farmer whose livelihood de- 

 pends on his calling — should njake it the 

 pinnacle of worldly ambition to excel in it. 

 If he neglects his farm for almost every thing 

 else, he is generally a miser both in interest 

 and credit. — Solomon, the wisest observer of 

 men, tells us of his disgust at tlie sight of a 

 slovenly farmer. "I went by the field of the 

 slothful — and lo, it was all grown over with 

 thorns, and nettles covered the face thereof 

 and the stone wall was broken down." Own- 

 er where art thou ! Perhaps dozing away thy 

 time in slumber and sloth ; or spending it 

 at the tavern ; or perhaps dreaming of pro- 

 motion, or engaged in the business of some 

 petty office. Better mind thy own proper busi- 

 ness; else "shall thy property come as one 

 that traveleth, and thy want as an armed 

 man." A farmer on the other hand, who 

 keeps his lands and stock in excellent order 

 need not be ashamed even were Solomon^ 

 himself passing by. Every passing traveler 

 no sooner casts his eyes over such a farm than 

 he honors the proprietor in his heart. The 

 proprietor moreover is sure to receive for his 

 pains something that is more solid than plain 

 honor — a comfortable, decent livelihood, for 

 which he is indebted to him only whose is 

 the earth and the fullness thereof. 



It is not the abundance of land, but the 

 fliorotigh and skillful cultivator of it, that 

 fills the barn with hay, tlie cribs with corn, 

 and the mansion house with plenty. For one 

 to crave a larger farm than he can cultivate 

 to profit, is therefore an expensive folly ; for 

 whatever a neglected field is worth, the in- 

 terest of the capital together with the year- 

 ly taxes, will at length eat the field up. 



If a farmer neglects his farm, his farm 

 will neglect him. The husbandman must 

 first labor else he partakes not of the fruit. 

 He must be vigilant else carelessness will 

 waste and lose what industry gains. He 

 must be economical and frugal else his out- 

 goes exceeding his income, he is sure finally 

 to come out of the little end of the horn. He 

 must not feel above his business, else he will 

 find himself below it. He must always mind 

 to do every thing in its season, else he will 

 have double work and half crops. Finally, he 

 must study agriculture as a practical science, 

 and make use of the means in his power to 

 increase ; else will he neither shine in his 

 calling nor reap the profits from it, which liQ 

 might and which others actually do. 



